Huck Finn Essay: Overcoming Society’s InfluencePeople develop into individuals due to many outside influences. The most significant influence on people is society itself. However, while society influences opinions and ideas of people, the most important morals that people have remain intact despite the disparaging effects of society. Mark Twain demonstrates through the character “Huck” in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that society corrupts the beliefs and opinions of people, but fails to overshadow their fundamental morals and principles.

The effects of society on individuals are clear in the presence of racism in Huck Finn. Huck is a young boy, whose opinions are all based on what society has taught him. He grew up practically an orphan, with a nomadic, drunk father, so his ideas have been instilled on him by his friends, and society, rather than by his family. Society’s dehumanization of the slaves is shown in a conversation between Huck and Aunt Sally. The two converse over if anyone was hurt on the boat, and Huck tells Aunt Sally, “No’m. Killed a n****r” (232). Huck’s statement signifies that a slave had died, however, Aunt Sally replies, “Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt” (232). This statement so blatantly dehumanizes black people that it shows how white society treats black people as lesser beings. Aunt Sally shows how white society overlooks black struggle and even death, in its selfish, Darwinist view of the world. This dehumanization also causes the slaves to become easy targets as the reason for problems in white society. In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, the townspeople originally blame Jim for the “death” of Huck. This shows the persecution of the slaves, because not only are they viewed as less than human, they also are blamed for everything that goes wrong. This is easy to do for the whites, because the slaves have almost no rights and thus are...

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...Malcolm Sims
12/14/2010
3rd Period
Huckleberry Finn Comparison Essay
The great American novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain is about a white southern raised child named HuckFinn and a runaway slave, Jim, running away together. This novel is similar in ways to that of the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which is about “the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love Daisy Buchanan.”(Book Cover) The character Huckleberry Finn is similar to characters of “The Great Gatsby.” HuckFinn is similar to Jay Gatsby because of their lies about their families, their reasons for lying, and their frames of reference of what not to do. HuckFinn is also similar to Myrtle Wilson. This is due to the fact that both try to create and live their “adventurous fantasy” lives and also because while trying to make their fantasy a reality they quickly forget about important people and belongings.
The character HuckFinn is similar to Jay Gatsby in two ways. The first way in which these characters are alike is between the lies they tell about their family. Huck Finn’s lies are about having a family and how “pap and me and all the family was living on a little farm down at the bottom of Arkansaw,” (Twain 75). While Gatsby’s lies are about how he has no family and how...

...Alinsky). In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain explores many different conflicts. He captures man versus self, man versus man, and man versus society. Huck, the main character, experiences each type of conflict first-hand. These conflicts cause Huck to change throughout the story as Twain illustrates his dynamic character.
Twain presents man versus self conflicts in the novel. Huck constantly faces internal conflicts, especially when it comes to Jim. While looking for Cairo, Twain illustrates Huck’s dilemma. As they float down the river, Jim expresses his excitement and says “he would go to saving up money...he would buy his wife…and then they would both work to buy the two children” (75). The way Jim talks horrifies Huck; Being raised in a society that taught people that slaves were property, Huck realizes just what he has done by helping Jim to freedom. Twain uses this scene to emphasize how much Jim’s race affects Huck. Although Twain lays out the story as an adventure, there are much deeper concepts brewing beneath – especially the clash between Jim and Huck. Twain captures this when Huck thinks, “I was sorry to hear Jim say that, it was such a lowering of him” (75). In the next part of the scene, Huck takes their canoe to shore and faces the decision of whether to turn Jim in or not when he runs into two...

...Adventures of Huckleberry FinnEssay
“The most violent element in society is ignorance” -Emma Goldman. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, it is put in plain sight that ignorance is dominant in the lives of the characters. Through the irony used in HuckFinn, the reader becomes aware that ignorance is everywhere in society, Twain demonstrates this through Pap, HuckFinn, and the feud between the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons.
Hucks deformed conscience informs the reader how ignorant Huck truly is. Huck appears to be flabbergasted when Jim says that if he is not able to free his children he will have to steal them. “It most froze me to hear such talk... here was this nigger which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat- footed and saying he would steal his children- children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know; a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm” (79). Huck is viewing the children as inferior blacks, Huck is defending slavery, and treating Jim as a criminal despite slavery being morally wrong. Towards the end of chapter 23 Jim expresses how much he misses his family. To Huck it seems peculiar for a black person to have all of these emotions “I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks do for their’n” (140)....

...Analysis of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most controversial stories written. It holds the title number four on the list of banned books for the use of the “N-word” and has been interpreted in many different ways. Some see it as a book about racism, others believe it is about morality and ethics. Many interpret the story as one about adventure and freedom. Critics may disagree about what message Twain was trying to get across, but one thing is clear; Huckleberry’s character changes and develops continuously throughout the story. However, even though he develops new ideas and seems to have a better understanding of morality towards the end of the book, he is quick to return to his old ways when his troublesome friend Tom Sawyer returns. In the end of it all, Huck still has characteristics of a racist and tends puts himself before others. He is only willing to do the right thing if it makes him feel better or if he’ll have a guilty conscience either way.
Twain first introduces Huck as a young boy who is being taught how to be ‘sivilized’ by a widow who took him in. The Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson tried to educated Huck about society since his alcoholic father was not a good example for him. Huck has learned that in society, African Americans were seen as subhuman and could be owned as property. So naturally, when...

...Drew Shunkwiler
Mr. Hall
American Literature
11 November 2011
HuckFinnEssay
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was the first great American novel. Ernest Hemingway went as far as to say that "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn". Mark Twain used literature to express his beliefs about American life and society. HuckFinn is a story of a young boy named Huckleberry Finn finding himself while traveling down the Mississippi River. Mark Twain uses Huck's journey towards maturity to convey his belief in the importance of being independent.
Huck's journey to maturity begins with Huck displaying adolescent and dependent behavior. Huck is very immature at the beginning of the novel in the sense that he is reliant on the actions of others in order to dictate the decisions he makes. When Huck asks Tom Sawyer about how they should go about being a gang of robbers, Tom comes up with crazy ideas that do not make sense, but defends himself by saying; "I’ve seen it in books; and so of course that’s what we’ve got to do"(10). At this point, the gang that Tom Sawyer started is following everything he says. Huck and the rest of the boys are not thinking for themselves, but are doing what they are told, even though what they are doing is ridiculous....

...HuckFinnEssay
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the theme of growth is used to develop Huck. Huck starts his journey as a boy but, by the end he is a man. Huck grew due to the variety of societies that he lived in, even if only for a short time. There were three societies in which Huck grew, whether for the best or for the worst depends on the situations he is in later on.
The first place where Huck met a different society is when he lived with Ms. Watson and Widow Douglas. When Huck lived with Widow Douglas and Ms. Watson, he was exposed to various things. Through Widow Douglas he was exposed to society, and how it generally works, “The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn't go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn't (sic) really anything the matter with them” (Twain 2). Through contact with the School, Huck learned how to read and write, this helped him throughout his experiences with other societies. Huck would escape from Widow Douglas and Ms. Watson to play with Tom Sawyer and his gang of kids, later returning muddy and oily. The next day, Ms. Watson berated Huck about the state of his attire. Causing...

...live and act together. However, in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the reverse is true. The swap in societal stereotypes is apparent in the king and the duke’s production of the Royal Nonesuch as well as Huck and Jim’s pleasant journey down the Mississippi after escaping the family feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepardsons. Leading up to the performance of the Royal Nonesuch, the king and the duke attract an all-male audience in a small town in Arkansas for a so-called “tragedy”, and make signs promising lewdness in the performance. Conversely, the protagonists of the novel, Huck and Jim, are depicted as noble characters on the outskirts of society, as they lead a carefree existence down the Mississippi River. The central irony in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is that in the midst of a “sivilized” society, uncivilized members abound, particularly those who are racist, conniving, and ill-mannered; whereas Huck and Jim, who have escaped society, are more righteous, sincere, and morally sound than any of the other “sivilized” characters who populate the traditional southern communities the novel depicts.
Civilization is the most advanced form of human organization, a truth universally acknowledged by society, and one that assumes humans are not savage; the sounds and setting in the river/raft and the Royal Nonesuch passages defy the standard definition of civilization. As...

...refutation.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great example of this complex argument: when something good happens, mischief and despair is always following. Huck’s father, Pap, never truly cared about his son. He was a stubborn drunkard who had zero education and was about as greedy with things then anyone Huck knew. Although being a father is an important role and huge responsibility in normal families, Pap shows no such concern towardsHuck. The only thing he truly cared about was Huck’s money and how he could use it to drink himself away. Pap is a contrasting figure to Jim who is a runaway slave. Huck embarks in his journey; full of kindness and honesty. Huck's father is the example of all worlds full of immorality and filthiness. Even his looks, with "long and tangled and greasy hair and rags for clothes", he reminds Huck of his poverty. Pap behaves in a very cruel way with Huck who is often beaten up and physically abused. Not only physical disturbance is an issue between father and son here, Pap is also against Huck's education. He resents Huck's ability to read and write, and be emerged in religious studies. The world of Widow Douglas, who agreed to take care of Huck, in Pap's twisted mind, is a dangerous world. Pap looks at his son as a thing of ownership, not as a human-being. In this situation, if Pap was in the society we live in now, he...